We’re on our final week of East of the Sun! Have you had fun? What did you enjoy the most? Would you like to see more programs like this in the future? Give us your feedback by filling out our survey! If you were registered to win one of our prize packets, now is the […]

We’re in the last week of East of the Sun! If you registered with us in June, now is the time to finish up those reading lists and make sure everything is in order. I’ll be emailing you next week to get them sent in, and announce who came out with the most points! Meanwhile, […]

An earlier wooden Parliament House of New Zealand was almost completely destroyed by fire on December 11th, 1907 along with all other parliament buildings except the library. The library was fire resistant, being constructed of masonry. It also had an iron fire-door that saved the library from the fire of 1907 which destroyed the rest of […]

New Zealand was the first modern democracy to stop banning women from voting in 1893, and on September 13th, 1933 the country witnessed Elizabeth McCombs becoming the first woman elected to the New Zealand Parliament. McCombs ran as a Labour Party candidate on a socialist platform. Her political views were influenced by her elder sisters who were advocates […]

Fans of science fiction, fantasy, and steampunk may find themselves asking—why does New Zealand have all the cool places to travel? First Peter Jackson chose New Zealand for the film locations of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies: now there is an entire tourist industry dedicated to taking travelers to all the stunning film locations. If this is not enough, tourists can visit Flock Hill, Purakaunui Bay, and Auckland City to see where The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe was filmed. Of course, fans of the X-Men can visit Otago and feel like they are walking through scenes of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But for the true immersive experience, steampunk fans can visit Oamaru, a town dedicated to the steampunk aesthetic: a town whose residents claim they are living in the Steampunk Capital of the World.

The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on February 6th, 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand. The Treaty established a British Governor of New Zealand, recognised Māori ownership of their lands and other properties, and gave the Māori the rights of […]